Ten Irish Food Companies begin their FoodService Academy mentoring

Ten Irish food and drink companies will join the first FoodService Academy, a new programme run by Bord Bia and Musgrave MarketPlace from today. The FoodService Academy seeks to help small Irish food and drink companies develop their business in the foodservice market (commonly referred to as “out of home food market”). The programme also aims to help the companies achieve growth within Musgrave MarketPlace’s foodservice business, which works with over 6,000 customers each week ranging from hotels and restaurants to pubs and nursing homes. 

Blanco Nino, Europe’s first producer of authentic corn tortillas and Nobó, the dairy free ice-cream company, have already been set up as suppliers in advance of the programme starting today. Other companies that will benefit from the programme include Tipperary Kitchen, a family run artisan bakery and Secret Recipe, the only producer of halal and gluten free meals to the foodservice industry in Ireland and the UK as well as other bakery, seafood, pork and beverage producers.

According to Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia’s Foodservice Specialist, “Bord Bia is delighted to work with Musgrave MarketPlace for the first time on the inaugural FoodService Academy, looking to grow the sales of small businesses in the market. The foodservice market is delivering real growth and value for Irish food and drink companies, as is evidenced in our recent industry report. The ‘out of home’ market is now worth €6.37bn and this is forecasted to grow to almost €6.9bn by 2018 so this is an area we are encouraging companies to develop.”

Sheena Forde, Trading Director, Musgrave MarketPlace added that, “Following on from the success of Musgrave’s SuperValu Food Academy programme with Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Offices, we are now looking forward to bringing a similar programme to Irish foodservice producers through MarketPlace. A number of the participating companies are Food Academy graduates so we are proud to be in a position to introduce their products to our foodservice customer base. As the largest and fastest growing wholesaler in Ireland, we are ideally placed to understand the needs of the foodservice market and, as an Irish family business, we are delighted to work with small Irish manufacturers, many of which are family owned, to give them a head start in the market. The FoodService Academy programme offers a combination of commercial and marketing expertise and will provide invaluable consumer insight for the companies involved. We would like to acknowledge the excellent support of Bord Bia throughout the development of this programme, their shared passion for supporting Irish food business has been evident throughout.’’

The FoodService Academy programme, coordinated by Bord Bia, will take place over four months and comprise of workshops and mentoring, with the first workshop taking place today (Thursday, 24th March). Representatives from Musgrave MarketPlace will participate in the workshops, sharing practical insights and experience to help the companies understand areas such as supplier set-up, food safety requirements and distribution model as well as sales and the marketing support.

The ten companies that have been chosen to participate are:

• Atlantis Seafood, a family seafood business based in Wexford
• Blanco Nino, Europe’s only producer of authentic corn tortillas and un-fried tortilla chips made in Tipperary
• Coffee House Lane, a Waterford family run coffee roaster 
• Lily’s Tea House, blenders of a range of premium, loose leaf teas as well as matcha tea and premium tea pyramids based in Co Louth
• Nobó, the dairy free ice-cream producer, which is made without any refined sugar, gums or stabilisers
• Maria Lucia Bakes, a Dublin producer of gourmet gluten, wheat and dairy free granola cereals
• Outdoor Oinks, a range of Bord Bia approved pork and bacon products in Kildare
• Secret Recipe in Cork is the only producer of halal and gluten free meal solutions to the foodservice industry in Ireland and the UK
• Tipperary Kitchen, a family run artisan bakery producing a range of handcrafted meringues, dessert sauces and chocolate biscuit cake
• Wildberry Bakery, an artisan gluten free bakery in Cork

Wishing them all the best of success!

Zack

US President Obama gets the ultimate Irish Foodie Bag for St Patrick's Day!

As part of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny's visit to the White House to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Bordbia (the Irish Food Board) organised a hamper of Irish food and drink products to be presented to the Obama Family and Mrs. Jill Biden. The contents include the best of Irish dairy, beef, cheese, seafood, confectionery, craft beers, tea, coffee, whiskey, oatmeal, biscuits, crisps, preserves and breads.

Pictured are: Emmet Doyle, BordBia’s Marketing Executive in New York and Dale Crammond, Ireland’s Agricultural Attaché to the US, who explained the provenance of the hamper contents to Enda Kenny.

The Irish Food Hamper contained the following products:
Oatmeal/Porridge

• Flahavans
• Kilbeggan 

Dairy – Butter & Cheese

• Kerrygold Butter 
• Wexford Cheddar
• Little Milk Company Organic Brie; Mature Cheddar
• Cooleeney Farm 
• Coolea Farmhouse Cheese
• Gubeen 
• Cahill’s Farm Cheese

Seafood and Beef

• Burren Smokehouse Smoked Salmon
• Irish beef

Confectionery, Biscuits & Crisps

• Butlers
• Jelly Bean Factory
• Kilbeggan Organic Oat Cookies
• The Foods of Athenry – Flapjack’s & Cookie Shots
• Broderick’s Mini Bites
• Keogh’s Crisps
• O’Donnell’s Crisps

Preserves & Jams

• Mileevan Jams & Sarah’s Honeys
• Abbey Farm Jams
• Follain Jams
• Ballymaloe Relish
• Boyne Valley – Lakeshore Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil
• Boyne Valley Lakeshore Mustard 

Whiskey and Craft Beer

• Jameson Whiskey
• Baileys Irish Cream
• Guinness 
• O’Hara’s Craft Beers 

Tea/Coffee

• Barrys Tea
• Bewleys Tea/Coffee

Breads/Crackers

• Sheridan’s Crackers (Brown Bread, Rye & Linseed, Mixed Seed)
• Promise Gluten Free Breads
• McCambridge’s Sliced Brown Wholewheat Bread

It's great to see Irish Food products and products made in Ireland continuing their rise in international recognition as being among some of the best in the world. And we are very proud of our food producers!

Zack

Would You like to Represent Irish Food Overseas?

Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board, in conjunction with the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, are seeking 25 high potential, ambitious, motivated professionals who have aspirations to become future leaders in the Irish Food industry. 

Together they are offering a Marketing Fellowship which blends action learning, through a year long, fully-funded, foreign industry placement, with a ‘block-release’ academic business education programme.

This intensive 12-month action learning programme gives successful candidates the combined opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with some of Ireland’s leading food companies while also gaining a Masters degree - an MSc in International Marketing Practice.

The programme blends action learning, through a year long, fully funded, foreign industry placement, with a ‘block-release’ academic business education programme. This is a Level 9 NFQ qualification.

The two key elements of the programme are outlined as follows:
In-Market Placement with Bord Bia clients (based overseas) early-Aug 2015 to June 2016
Block Release Academic Programme (based in Ireland). Mid-June to early-Aug 2015; 2 weeks pre Christmas and 1 week pre-Easter 2016.

Who Should Apply?
Applications are welcomed from all graduates with a minimum of 2-3 years work experience. Some placements will require fluency in a second language (for example French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Japanese or Chinese.)

Placement Locations
Placement of the Fellowship participants will be selected from locations which may include New York, London, Dubai, Sydney, Shanghai, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Düsseldorf and Warsaw.

Candidate Selection
There are 20-25 places available on this programme and participants will be selected following a rigorous and exacting recruitment process. Interested participants must be available if selected to take part in the interview and assessment process around April 2014 in Dublin (attendance on one day is required - exact dates to be confirmed) and if successful must be ready to commence the programme on the 16th June 2015.

Successful candidates must be available to commence the programme in Dublin on the 15th June. 

This is a full-time programme. 100% Tuition Fees are paid, plus a €22,800 bursary.

Closing Date for Applications is 5th Mar 2015.

For more details and application see: www.smurfitschool.ie/bordbia

Zack

Free Farmhouse Cheese events for October Month of Cheese 2014

This October, for the second year in succession, Bord Bia and the Discover Farmhouse Cheese campaign, will host up to 200 free farmhouse cheese events across the country for October Month of Cheese. It's a great chance to learn about Irish Cheese, try new types, experience new flavours and textures, pair with craft beers, whiskey or wine and pick of lots of top tips from seasonality to storage.

Throughout the month, retailers across Ireland, big and small, as well as farmers markets and farm shops, restaurants and gastro pubs will host events and tastings, inviting consumers to try a huge variety of styles from the 50 farmhouse cheesemakers in Ireland. Over the month of October, the Discover Farmhouse Cheese campaign aims to boost the trial of farmhouse cheese and get more Irish consumers to taste and discover the huge variety of cheese available on the Irish market.

Speaking about October Month of Farmhouse Cheese, Eimear O'Donnell, Consumer Dairy Sector Manager, Bord Bia said: “Last year was the first year of October Month of Farmhouse Cheese and it was a great success, with events taking place throughout the country. This October, we will have almost 200 events for consumers to choose from and we are really excited about making this year even bigger and better."

"From our recent survey into our cheese-eating habits, we found we are still quite conservative with our choice of cheese. All the activity and sampling around October Month of Cheese gives consumers a great opportunity to find a new variety that they love. Farmhouse cheeses are truly one of the most bespoke, hand-made foods in the entire world!”

Discover Farmhouse Cheese also organise a number of free farm visits – allowing the public to go meet the maker, see the farm where it is produced and learn the story behind the cheese.  Visit one of the farms and experience cheese-making first-hand, from the individual milk and dairy herds, the small batches and commitment to taste and quality, the maturing and dedication to making some of the finest artisan products.

Discover Farmhouse Cheese is an EU co-financed information and promotional campaign.  It is part of a three country, three year campaign in which Ireland, the Netherlands, and Germany are working to increase the consumption of farmhouse cheese with consumers in those markets.

Farm visits are free to attend but you must book your place online.

For more information on events and sampling during October Month of Farmhouse Cheese, farm visits and farmhouse cheese, visit www.discoverfarmhousecheese.ie, check out Facebook for details www.facebook.com/discoverfarmhousecheese or follow them on Twitter on @Cheese_IE.

Zack

Winners of the Bord Bia Irish Food & Drinks Industry Awards 2013

The achievements and contributions of nine Irish food companies were recognised at the Bord Bia Food and Drink Awards held in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham tonight. The Awards, which are held every two years, are designed to reward excellence within the Irish food and drink industry across seven categories – Exporting, Branding, Entrepreneurial, Success at Home, Sustainability, Consumer Insight and Innovation. Over 250 industry representatives gathered for the event including the CEOs from some of Ireland’s leading food and drink companies such as Kerry, Glanbia, Irish Distillers, ABP, Dawn Meats and Kepak.

Opening the event the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney T.D. said “As ever with the food and drink industry, we are here to celebrate exceptional resilience and performance at the ‘Oscars’ of the sector. Individual food and drink companies, who are being recognised this evening, can take pride in their achievements in growth, in new business and even deeper insight into buyer needs and consumer trends.”

Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney T.D.

The Minister added “at a macro level, the record €9 billion exports achieved by food and drink companies in 2012 is likely to be surpassed this year, and the €12 billion target in Food Harvest 2020 is in sight. The opening up of new markets has been a key policy priority. Together with the successful conclusion of CAP and Common Fisheries Policy negotiations during the Irish Presidency, this provides greater certainty for food and drink businesses seeking to expand business sustainably on the Origin Green journey. “

Speaking at the event, Michael Carey, Chairman, Bord Bia said “This year’s Awards coincide with the fourth successive year of sustained growth in our food and drink exports. As the industry continues to develop and expand into new and emerging markets, it is important to recognise the continued progress and achievements of the sector.”

Category Award Winners
The Bord Bia Food and Drink Awards were open to all food and drink products manufactured in Ireland. This year, Bord Bia received in excess of 140 award entries across seven categories which were judged by an independent judging panel. The overall category award winners were:

Glenmar Shellfish, Winner of the Export Award

• Export Award – Glenmar Shellfish. Based in Union Hall, Co. Cork and established over 30 years ago, Glenmar is currently exporting over 2,000 tonnes of shellfish each year to markets such as China, Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, Spain, France and Croatia. They export to seven overseas markets on a daily basis and exports account for 75% of company turnover.

Paganini for FitFuel, Winner of the Innovation Award

• Innovation Award – Paganini for FitFuel, a protein enriched ice cream range. FitFuel Perform is a recovery product for sportspeople and recreational athletes, while FitFuel Nourish is used by healthcare professionals to boost the protein intake of patients. Paganini was founded by Wexford dairy farmer, Tomas Murphy in 1990 and today, in addition to its business in Ireland, they export to the UK and the Middle East.

Britvic Ireland for MiWadi, Winner of the Success At Home Award

• Success at Home Award – Britvic Ireland for MiWadi, the number one dilute brand in Ireland. Miwadi impressed the judges with a 41% yearly average value market share, having achieved considerable success in recent years with the relaunch of MiWadi, and the launch of double concentrate and no added sugar flavours.

Dawn Meats, Winner of the Sustainability Award

• Sustainability Award – Dawn Meats, the Waterford based meat exporter, has formalised its approach to sustainability and set a number of demanding targets as part of Origin Green, Bord Bia’s sustainability development programme for the Irish food and drink industry. Dawn Meats is working to reduce water use by 40%, reduce energy consumption by 40% and to reduce its direct carbon footprint by 50%.

Keelings, Winner of the Branding Award

• Branding Award – Keelings, the family owned fresh produce business started producing fruits and salads in the 1930's and today the company employs approximately 2,000 people and has a turnover of €300 million per year. The Keelings brand, with its strapline “Love to Grow”, was launched into the produce category in 2010 and has become the most recognised brand for fruit and vegetables in Irish supermarkets.

Irish Sea Salt, Winner of the Entrepreneurial Award

• Entrepreneurial Award – Irish Atlantic Salt. The O'Neill family developed this range of organic, gourmet Irish sea salt products, using the highest quality waters around the Beara Peninsula to create the only Irish-made white sea salt product available. By 2015, the company hopes export market revenues will represent 80% of total revenues.

Kerry Foods Cheestrings, Winner of the Consumer Insight Award

• Consumer Insight Award – Kerry Foods for Cheestrings, a brand, worth approximately €90 million, and available in over 25,000 stores around the world. The judges were particularly impressed by the detailed consumer research undertaken by Kerry in advance of entering the German market. The resultant consumer insight helped build its product positioning which has led to 1 million packs being sold every month in leading German retailers.

Special Awards

James Whelan Butchers, Winner of a Special Online Champion Award

This year, Bord Bia introduced a new Award to reward an ‘Online Champion’, in recognition of the impact the digital age is having on the industry. Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers, Ireland’s first online butcher, was awarded the title as a ‘best in class’ example of how to increase sales and brand awareness through online and social media.

ABP Foods (Irl.), Winner of the Business Referral Award

Meanwhile, ABP Ireland was also honoured with the inaugural ‘Business Referral Award’, in recognition of their co-opetition efforts. Bord Bia is actively supporting the principle of co-opetition, where food companies work together to create synergies resulting in cost savings, improved returns and reputation, and increased market distribution. ABP Ireland introduced Wexford based sheep meat company, Irish Country Meats, to a European foodservice client in order to address a supply issue for their customer. Irish Country Meats now deliver Irish lamb weekly to this foodservice client.

Congratulating the award winners, Aidan Cotter, Chief Executive, Bord Bia described their achievements as “a fitting showcase of an industry on the rise, building success at home and abroad, and positioning food and drink firmly at the centre of our economic recovery. It is this talent, imagination and sheer professionalism that is at the heart of the industry’s current success and that will secure its continued growth and expansion”.

Zack

8% Increase in Irish Food & Drink Exports for 2013

Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) recently commissioned this Infographic to visualize the rise in Irish food and drink exports in the first half of 2013. There has been over 8% increase since 2012.

The prospects for food and drink exports remains broadly positive for the remainder of 2013 as good demand for dairy and beef combined with a stronger Prepared Foods performance and further steady growth in beverages all point to exports for the year increasing by around 7% to approach €9.7 billion.

It makes for interesting reading a points to great potential for the future of the Food industry in Ireland.

To read more about how we hope to develop Irish Food Tourism into the future see www.arthurguinnessprojects.com/food/irishfoodtoursie

Zack

Tipperary pork farmers receive 1st ever Bordbia Q-Mark for Free Range Pork

A small independent pork farm based in Tipperary, has just received the first Bord Bia Quality Assured mark for Free-Range Pork & Bacon. This is the first time that Bordbia (the Irish Food Board) has issued a Quality Certification Mark to Free-Range Pork in Ireland. 

After two years of working towards getting "Free Range Pork" recognised as a speciality food product in Ireland, the paperwork has been completed and assessments finalised. A Certification for Bord Bia Quality Assurance Standard has now been granted and takes pride of place on the wall at Oldfarm. The farm at Redwood in North Tipperary, is run by Alfie & Margaret McCaffery and they specialise in raising free-range GMO-free (genetically modified organism) pigs.

In 2010 Alfie started questioning why was there no official certification (a Q-Mark) for free-range pork. "There are marks for free-range chicken but there wasn't anything for free-range pork. There are official marks for Organic pork, but nothing for Free-Range" he said.

The passionate pork farmer thought it would be a great accolade for Oldfarm Pork if they could get official certification and so, their quest began. He approached Bord Bia who suggested that a breeders’ association be formed and so the Irish Free Range Breeders Association was born with about 20 members. Alfie was nominated Chairperson of the association. 

For 2 years, Alfie travelled frequently from Tipperary to Dublin to sit on Bord Bia’s "Pig Meat Board". His hope had been that if they approved a ‘free-range’ label it would include ‘Non-GMO’ but, for the moment, this is not permissible. At the end of the 2 years, a framework was agreed as to what the definition of free-range should be:

• Free-range farmed is "a type of animal husbandry where pigs have free access to fields/woodland with defined boundaries for all or most of their natural life". 
• Animals receive their nutritional needs from prepared natural feed or from pasture or forage depending on the season.

The next step towards certification involved being audited and completing reams of paperwork for submission to Bord Bia. "Completion of the paperwork is not onerous but it does focus your attention on detail," said Margaret. "It make you realise why it is necessary to have standards that can be independently audited and maintained. Standards such as this give credence, traceability and confidence to the consumer."

In July 2013 all their hard work paid off when a certificate arrived in the post stating that Oldfarm pork had "...demonstrated compliance for product under the requirements of the Bord Bia Pigmeat Quality Assurance Standard".  

This being the first time a Q-Mark has been issued for Free Range Pork in Ireland, Alfie & Margaret are naturally delighted. "We believe our free range pork is different, very different from that supplied in supermarkets" says Alfie. "Once you have tasted our delicious pork, you will certainly come back for more".

I have spent a little time with Mags & Alfie in Redwood and I can confirm that their pork really is super delicious! You can find out more about Oldfarm's pigs and pork at www.oldfarm.ie

Zack

Irish Woman Bernadette Byrne Receives Top French Culinary Award

Bernadette Byrne, a Meat Marketing Specialist for France, Belgium and Luxembourg at Bordbia, the Irish Food Board, has received a Top French Culinary Award for her work.

Bernadette, originally from Kildare, was recently awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre Mondia by the L’Académie Culinaire de France, the French Culinary Academy. This is one of the highest honours available from the oldest association of culinary and pastry chefs in the world!

Gérard Dupont, President of the French Culinary Academy,
presenting Bernadette with her award at a ceremony in Paris

Bernadette is the first Irish person to receive this accolade, which is mainly as a result of her work with Bord Bia’s Paris office and in particular, the promotion of Irish beef in the French market. 

Bernadette was instrumental in Irish Beef being selected as the key ingredient for the 2013 Bocuse d’Or, by the organisers of the prestigious French culinary competition. 

Irish grass fed Beef is considered by most to be the best Beef in the world today

L’Académie Culinaire de France was created in 1883 by Joseph Favre and today the Academy has 900 members representing 27 nations. This particular award was created to honour those who through their work strive for the recognition and development of agricultural food products. 

Chef Ross Lewis, Chapter One, Bernadette Byrne, Bord Bia, Paris
with Florent Suplisson launching the 2013 Bocuse d’Or

Bernadette has been living in France since 1981, where she started working for the Irish Livestock and Meat Board and then with Bord Bia, since its inception in 1994, based in the Paris office.

For more visit Bordbia's website at www.bordbia.ie 

Zack